Medical gowns such as those worn by operating room personnel and others typically comprise a body portion and sleeves cut from a medical grade fabric, such as the many non-woven fabrics well known in the art. Many gowns sold today are disposable and are packaged in sterile wrappers. Since the pattern shapes from which the parts of the gown are cut are irregular, the design of the gown body and sleeves results in wasted fabric from the portions cut to provide arm and neck holes. Because these types of garments are manufactured in great quantities, it would be desirable both economically and environmentally to reduce waste to as great an extent as possible.
There are several constructions known in the art and applied to garments of this type, however, these designs inherently result in wasted material. A sleeve construction such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,803,640--Ericson is known generally as a "raglan" sleeve and is shaped so as to provide a seam running from beneath the juncture of the shoulder and the torso, partially across the chest and up to the neck opening. If a raglan sleeve were removed, split open and laid flat, the shoulder portion of the sleeve would have a "U" shaped end matching that made in the shoulder region of the body portion. These pieces are waste material, since the sleeve is sewn directly to the body.
Variations of the standard raglan sleeve are found in many other surgical gowns. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,196--White, discloses a disposable surgical gown having areas manufactured from material having a high degree of air permeability, while other portions of the gown are manufactured of materials which are liquid repellent or impermeable. The sleeve of the gown is divided into upper and lower portions at a seam disposed below the elbow area of the arm. The lower portion of the sleeve is comprised of a liquid impermeable material to protect the forearm of the wearer. Similar sleeve constructions are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,504,977--King et al. and 4,504,978--Gregory, Jr. et al., both of which teach forming a seam between the upper and lower sleeve portions at the elbow region of the wearer. Also, U.S Pat. No. 3,349,285--Belkin discloses a raglan sleeve divided into upper and lower sections at about the elbow and U.S. Pat. No. 3,011,172--Tames discloses a raglan sleeve construction having a lower sleeve section formed as an additional layer of material overlying the sleeve and having a seam below the elbow. However, all of these prior art designs utilize what is essentially a two piece sleeve, and do not reduce the waste occurring from the need to cut arm holes in the body portion of the gown and to make matching cuts in the sleeve portion.
A raglan sleeve design, as applied to a patient's comfort gown, is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,276,036--Cater. As seen particularly in FIGS. 2-4 of that reference, a sleeve may be formed using a typical raglan construction as described above. The sleeve is terminated above the bicep portion of the arm, i.e., just off the shoulder, to form a short sleeve garment. The sleeve portions are detachably affixed to the body portion of the garment, which is formed from two pieces of material and therefore has two side seams. The sleeve portions are formed from separate sleeve blanks of a dimension which results in each sleeve portion seam terminating at its respective side seam. Thus, the size of the cutouts required for the arm openings and the size of the sleeve sections required to correctly form the seams disclosed results in wasted fabric.
Another type of sleeve construction found in many garments is known generally as a "set in" sleeve. Many items of apparel utilize the set in construction, such as dress shirts, blouses and coats. The sleeve portion of a set in sleeve is substantially tubular or slightly tapered in the form of a truncated cone, therefore, if split and laid flat, the sleeve portion would be formed of a substantially rectangular or trapezoidal portion of material. Waste in the sleeve portion is thus reduced, but still occurs since the body portion has cutouts not unlike those required for a raglan sleeve, only smaller in size. Moreover, the set in sleeve is more difficult to construct and provides less freedom of movement to the wearer.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a garment construction which reduces waste material to an even greater extent than the set in sleeve, while providing the manufacturing and comfort advantages offered by raglan sleeves.